Need Advice: Accepted to Grad Program, But Can't Defer Undergrad Loans

[SFOT]

I am in need of some advice.

I was recently accepted to a graduate program in occupational therapy (starting in fall 2018). It is a state school with a good program - the cheapest in the state. Unfortunately, a few months after being accepted, I learned that I would no longer be able to defer private loans from my undergraduate program. Basically, I didn't realize there was a time limit on in-school deferment, and ran out the clock while working on pre-requisites and some other unrelated course work needed for my current career.

The graduate program advises that we not work while in the program. Does anyone have any advice on what to do in this situation? I've worked very hard getting good grades in the pre-requisites, doing well on the GRE, volunteering and getting into a program that accepts only around 10% of applicants. I am not ready to give up.

Are there companies that will refinance my private loans while I am still in school? Any that have an option of in-school deferment? If so which ones are they?

Any other ideas I haven't mentioned?

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[RangerBob]

You either need to make payments, or defer them. It sounds like deferment is no longer an option (and I don't know of any lenders who will let you consolidate into a new loan but defer payments on the new loan a few years). Most private loans limit in-school deferments to about 4 years after disbursement of the loan.

So you likely have to make payments one way or the other. You can either work, or take out loans to pay for the monthly payments. If I were in your shoes, and working really isn't feasible (keep in mind almost all grad programs say not to work--I was told not to work in med school but there was plenty of time in the first two years to do so), I'd borrow the max in federal loans you're allowed and live on as little as possible, so you can make those monthly payments. Paying off a loan with another loan isn't the smartest thing to do, but I did it as well during med school for a small private loan. I was able to get an increase in my financial aid to cover the cost of the monthly payments--talk with your school's financial aid advisor, as they may be able to help out.

Still, keep borrowing to a minimum if you can.

Keep in mind that if you took out loans each year of undergrad, each of those loans has it's own in-school deferment max. So you may only need to make payments on your freshman year loan your first year of grad school, your freshman and sophomore year loans in your second year of grad school, and so on.